bouquets and baguettes

Well hello there! Time has passed by and spring is here! I had a very relaxing two weeks of spring break, and along with refraining from any academic activity, I seem to have also taken a brief vacay from posting on B&B. The creative juices and inspiration are flowing again, and boy oh boy do I have some fun posts in the works. Starting with today’s bomb recipe that is simply the epitome of spring.

While I was recently exploring the local Farmer’s Market, the heavens opened up and shined a glorious, beaming light on these beauties-SQUASH BLOSSOMS (of the zucchini variety). Ughhhhh squash blossoms are one of those rare delicacies that just make me do a happy dance- the OG squash blossom recipe on the blog can be found here. They are available in the spring and early summer, before summer squash season. Cuz, ya know, first comes squash blossoms then comes squash.

Major question: Have you ever had a squash blossom before??? I remember my first squash blossom experience at around 13 years old. It was stuffed to the brim with ricotta cheese, tempura battered, and pan fried. Was it delicious? Duhhhh. But did it really let the squash blossom shine? No. Was it healthy and nourishing? Heckkkk noooooo.

So as any nutrition-oriented foodie would do, I set out on making an alternative that was fresher, lighter, and let the blossom do its thang. The result is gluten-free and vegan, but you ain’t gonna miss the dairy or the gluten, promise! Bonus- no deep frying required! Just a quick roast in the oven is all these babies need.

I would go as far to say that this is one of the best, most blissfully perfect recipes on the blog to date. The squash blossoms are savory, salty, and fresh. And if you have never tasted, let alone made a stuffed squash blossom, it’s your lucky day. Your tastebuds won’t even know what hit em.

Sooooo quick side note, since I was feeling extra resourceful and inspired with this particular recipe, it makes use of the leftover almond meal in the nut-milk bag from making homemade almond milk. (That you might normally look at and have no clue what to do with.) Stop throwing the almond meal away, and make these instead.

If you don’t have leftover post-almy milk almond meal, you can totally sub almond flour (finely ground almonds) for this recipe. You will just have to get the flour a little bit more wet with a sprinkle of water. Easy peasy! And let’s be honest, if you whip these out as an app at your next dinner party, everyone will be convinced that 1: you are fancy, 2: you are chef-y, and 3: you can adult like nobody’s business.

Almond and Olive Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Makes 16  stuffed squash blossoms

16 squash blossoms

1 cup of almond meal

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used thyme, rosemary, oregano)

1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Olive oil, for drizzling

Lemon zest for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If using “leftover” almond meal from making homemade almond milk, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to almond meal in a large bowl. (If using dry almond flour, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a few tablespoons of water so that the almond meal holds together in a ball.)

Add chopped herbs, olives, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to the almond meal, and mix until well combined. To stuff each squash blossom, carefully open the flower, pushing a small spoonful of the almond mixture into the blossom. Gently press the petals together to seal the blossom.

Place squash blossoms on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 18-20 minutes. To serve, garnish with fresh lemon zest.

Do tell- have you had squash blossoms before? Let me know if you try this recipe! Squash blossoms can seem like an intimidating ingredient to work with, but I promise, they are pretty low maintenance as long as you treat them with a little TLC.

Have a great weekend!

XO,

Alexandra